TO ALL: AOL GOING DOWN! GET OUT!
First: Couldn't break resistance at 44, and closed down today.
Second: Rate pricing soon will change
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Two months after America Online's flat rate
attracted millions of casual Internet users, other companies are
discovering that they can charge more to people who demand
reliability over cheap rates.
AOL's main customers - people who browse the Net for pleasure -
seem satisfied with attempts to unclog its network and still savor
the $19.95 price tag for unlimited access to the nation's biggest
online service.
But Netcom Online Communications, one of the leading providers
of Internet access, is planning to charge by the hour to entice
businesses and other serious Internet users who need a service they
can count on.
``Consumers have been conditioned to this flat-rate,
all-you-can-eat mind set, whereas the business market is ready to
pay a premium for quality or reliability,'' said Kate Delhagen, a
senior analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. she
said.
AOL Networks president and chief operating officer Bob Pittman
agrees.
``We're at 8 million subscribers, we get a $20 subscription fee
for each of them ... and we're just breaking even. What does that
tell you about someone with half a million subscribers?'' he said
from his office in Reston, Va.
For Netcom, which has 580,000 customers, it means concentrating
on people who use the Internet for more than fun and games.
``If they (hobbyists) can't get on their online service it's
okay, because instead they'll just watch `Seinfeld' or something,''
said David Garrison, Netcom's chief operating officer.
One of the first big online service providers to offer flat-rate
back in 1995, Netcom plans to announce a new pricing system based
on hourly rates next month.
AOL, which is how one half of Internet users get online from
home, became so swamped in January after starting its flat rate
that it was forced to give frustrated customers refunds and
credits.
Get out while you still have a profit!
Some friendly advice,
Don |
